Preventing conception



MPETEHS, PHQTUTHOGRAPHER. WASHINGTON. C.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

J. B. BEERs, OE ROCHESTER, NEw YORK,

PREVENTING CONCEPTION.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 4,729, dated August 28, 1846. l

To all whom t may concern Be it known that I, JOHN B. BEERs, of the cityof Rochester, in the county of Monroe and State of New York, haveinvented a new Instrument, called the .wifes protector, t-he design ofwhich is to Prevent conception; and I do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full and exact description.

It consists Of six separate pieces, viz, hoop, band, joint, joint-pin,membranous covering, and handle.`

It is constructed in the following manner:

The hoop (A) is made of a piece of Oval wire, formed into a ring aboutan inch and a half in diameter, and tO this, is soldered the point (B),formed from a piece of hollow wire about l; an inch in length, which hastwo slots cut/in it (C, 0,) about pf an inch apart, handle (D, D,) whichforms the other half of the hinge or joint. The center of this joint,from one slot to the other, is flattened at right angles with the hoop(A) to which it is attached.

The handle consists Of one piece Of metal, (gold alloyed with plat-inais to be preferred on account of its great elasticity, and not. beingliable to change color.) It should be about eight inches in length, and.about lg of an inch in width, except the end that lis crooked, which isleft larger merely for Ornament. The other end is about vof an inch inwidth, and has two longitudinal slits extending of an inch from the end,and about fg of an inch from either edge, running parallel with thehandle. The two outside planes are then formed into knuckles, tO worklike a hinge in the slots (C, 0,) cut in the joint (B,). The center F iscut off even with the knuckles (D,4 D,) and is intended to rest upon theflat surface be tween the slots, and act as a spring, keeping the hoopwhile in use at right' angles. The two are then united, and kept intheir place by a joint-pin. Thev hoop is then covered tO receive the endof tler.

with oil-silk, or some other thin membranous subst-ance (E,) and held inits place by a metallic band, made tO slip snugly over the hoop andt-hus securing the edges Of the covering between them. The edgesof theband are then to be burnished down smoothly; and lastly, the handleshould be formed into shape, resembling the sectional" view in theannexed drawing No. 2.

To use this instrument, the hoop is tO be pressed down upon the handleby the thumb of the right hand, turning it up edgewise, and thenintroduced into thevagina, when, immediately after, having passed thesphincter, and the bo-es of thepelvis, it extends itself to itsnatLral/psition, nearly at right angles wit-h the rod or stem, and as itis farther introduced, the handle is to be turned downward l; of acircle. In this position-the membrane on the hoop is made to completelycover the Os uteri, thus entirely prevent-ing the semen from enteringthe uterus, without which, (it is assumed) conception can not takeplael"l While the rod aforesaid lies along the lower side of the vagina,with a slight curve, to accommodate itself to the sphincter, andterminates in the angles above described, lying near the anus, and ifproperly adjusted, can not be felt by either party. After coition, whenthe instrument is being withdrawn the spring joint permits the extensionof the hoop to nearly a parallel line with the rod accommodating itselfto theshape and size Of the vagina, and bringing the semen away with it.

What I claim as my invention, is-the particular combination of a coveredhoop attached to a handle by a spring-joint as described and for thepurposes above specified.

J. B. BEERS. Witnesses:

DANIEL WOOD, L O. MORRIS.

